Digest: R v Carrier Forest Products Ltd., 2018 SKPC 7

• Date: January 26, 2018

Reported as: 2018 SKPC 7

Docket Number: PC17101 , 90215180

Court: Provincial Court

Date: 2018-01-26

Judges:

• Lane

Subjects:

• Regulatory Offence � Occupational Health and Safety � Sentencing

Digest: The accused pled guilty to the charge of failing to provide an effective safeguard where a worker made contact with a dangerous moving part as required by s. 137(1) of The Occupational Health and Safety Regulations, 1996, resulting in the death of a worker contrary to s. 3-78(g) and s. 3-79 of The Saskatchewan Employment Act. The court had to determine the appropriate sentence under s. 3-79(7) and s. 3-79(9) of the Act. The victim was working for the accused as an unlicensed millwright. He was attempting to repair a wood chipper. The accused�s written safety policy and workplace training and testing that the victim had undergone required employees to �lock out� the machine during repairs, meaning that all power sources to it were to be shut off. The victim did not turn off the power sources to the machine and while he was attempting to secure a guard onto the chipper, the guard struck a rotating piece of machinery whereupon it broke off and struck the victim, killing him. The accused had no prior convictions, nor were there any notices of previous contraventions. After the accident it installed a safety device that would prevent the same kind of accident arising from human error to occur again. It was a small company that employed 136 people. The Crown suggested a fine in the amount of $700,000.
HELD: The court imposed a find $62,500 plus a victim surcharge of 40 percent resulting in a global penalty of $87,500. The court specified that this fine was not to be regarded as a precedent except in a similar case. The Crown�s proposed fine was highly excessive and might well have had a fatal impact on the financial capacity of the accused to continue operating and thus would affect the economic basis of the small community.

Statutes Considered:

• Saskatchewan Employment Act, SS 2013, c S-15.1, s 3-8(a)
• Saskatchewan Employment Act, SS 2013, c S-15.1, s 3-78(g)
• Saskatchewan Employment Act, SS 2013, c S-15.1, s 3-79
• Saskatchewan Employment Act, SS 2013, c S-15.1, s 3-79(7)
• Saskatchewan Employment Act, SS 2013, c S-15.1, s 3-79(8)
• Saskatchewan...